The musical soundscape created by Barry Gray for Fireball XL5 featuresa rich tapestry of themes and playful instrumentation. Much like hisprevious work for AP Films, Supercar, Barry Gray leans upon the Jazzymusical language of Hollywood to bring to life the vivid marionettes andminiature craft, with compositions ranging from brassy heroic percussionto playful humorous cues.The unique nature of the series' otherworldly premise however allowedthe composer to balance his silver screen classicism with a progressiveuse of electronically augmented instruments, namely the Ondes Martenot.Invented in the 1920s by French cellist Maurice Martenot, Barry Garystudied the keyboard-like instrument with its creator in Paris. The"wavering" sound the Ondes Martenot made was perfect for bringing tolife the various alien and mysterious situations encountered by the WorldSpace Patrol . These minimalist alien vignettes perfectly conveyed theemptiness of space and could be suitably unsettling when employed to seta scene of peril.This contrast of detached electronic music with the familiar anchor ofJazz served the series well. To further add warmth to proceedings, eachepisode would close with an undeniable popsong, in the charming Fireball. The gentle lovesong featured the dulcetcroon of Don Spencerand would be one of BarryGray's finest pop moments- ensuring that the serieslingered in viewers heads.
